“I think those are very valid statements that he made,” said Peter Tyson, president of the 277-member Saginaw Township Community Schools teachers’ union, who teaches economics and government at Heritage High School. “If you want to get the best and brightest in any job you have to pay them well.”

But, Tyson said, “the priorities in Lansing are not to fund schools right now.”

On Monday, Jan. 28, Flanagan addressed a group of science experts assembled at Michigan State University to discuss the upcoming Next Generation Science Standards for K-12 education, according to a Michigan Department of Education news release.

"We can do all we want with content standards, but the elephant in the room is that it won't do much good if we don't have enough math and science teachers in our schools,” Flanagan said Monday.

According to the release, Flanagan noted that there are instances, especially in urban and rural communities, of students being taught math and science by people who aren't true math and science teachers.

The challenge, the release states, is many high school and college students who excel in science and math don't consider teaching to be a viable career option.

"When you ratchet-up teacher salaries to $100,000-plus, market forces will direct more mid-career changers and you'll attract more math and science college students into our educator prep programs," Flanagan stated in the release.

Adding, "We need to be moving all teachers to that salary level to continue getting the best and brightest people educating our students.”

Tyson said for teachers in Michigan “wages are stagnant if not falling, so there's not much incentive to enter the teaching profession.”

With the average teacher in the state earning about $60,000 a year, he said, a $100,000 salary would be a significant jump.

“As with any employer, we want to attract the best candidates possible for a position,” Trombley said. “I think Mr. Flanagan is correct in stating that in order to attract the best possible teachers for our students they need to have incentive to be here, to take part in this profession.”

He said the concept of higher salaries for teachers to attract the best candidates is applicable to all subjects, not just math and science, but “that’s not reality when you’re publicly funded.”

However, he said there are other factors people take into account when searching for employment.

“I think if it’s not financial rewards that people see when entering the workforce, they look at other things the teaching profession has to offer to attract them.”

Trombley noted that traditionally summer vacations have been one such reward for teachers.

But, “teaching is much more difficult, much more accountable, than it has been in the past.”